IF ANYTHING, Tracy Thorne-Begland, a top state prosecutor in Richmond with a decade of courtroom experience, is overqualified for a judgeship on the General District Court. Mr. Thorne-Begland, who has prosecuted dozens of homicides and other major felonies, runs one of the biggest commonwealth’s attorney’s offices in Virginia. The caseload of the court to which he was nominated consists mainly of traffic violations, minor crimes and run-of-the-mill civil disputes over contracts and late rent payments.

ACCORDING TO Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), it is “intrusive,” “an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars,” “unconstitutional,” and “the very picture of what’s wrong in D.C.”

What manner of predatory government prompted Mr. Webster — supported by nearly all House Republicans — to issue such categorical condemnation? That intolerable federal boondoggle known as . . . the American Community Survey (ACS).

IT MAY ALREADY be too late to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debts and leaving the euro, Europe’s common currency. But there still may be time to prevent Greece’s woes from dragging down the rest of Europe, and the world. For that to happen, though, Europe’s leaders must think clearly about the issues before them, especially the great “austerity vs. growth” debate.

VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH deserves no reward for his heavy-handed rule as president of Ukraine. His term has brought increasing corruption, a concentration of power in the presidency and show trials of political opponents. The most worrying has been the case of Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister who now languishes in prison on a seven-year sentence.